University of Northern Iowa Athletics
University of Northern Iowa
North Dakota State
UNI women's basketball: Panthers open the 2025-26 season against the Bison
11/2/2025 5:14:00 PM | Women's Basketball
UNI women’s basketball hits the hardwood for the first time this season against the NDSU Bison.
UNI (0-0 / 0-0 MVC) vs. North Dakota State (0-0 / 0-0 Summit)
- 6 p.m. CT | November 3, 2025
- McLeod Center | Cedar Falls, Iowa
- ESPN+
- Panther Sports Radio Network
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa --- UNI women's basketball is back! UNI opens the 2025-26 campaign inside the McLeod Center for the fourth-straight season as the Cats take on the North Dakota State Bison. The first meeting since 2022, this will be the 11th matchup between the two programs. UNI holds an 8-2 record against the Bison including a 4-1 record inside the McLeod Center.
The only current Panther athletes who were on the team that faced the Bison in 2022 are Taryn Wharton and Ryley Goebel. Freshmen in the 2022-23 season, Wharton was 3-for-3 for eight points and four rebounds in her 20 minutes on the floor while Goebel recorded four points, three rebounds, and two blocks in 13 minutes.
The Panthers are coming off a 2024-25 season that saw numerous season-highs including single-season points and field goals records as a team. UNI scored 2,519 total points on 934 field goals last season to set program records in those categories.
Starting in all 34 matchups, Ryley Goebel proved to be one of the top defenders in the Missouri Valley Conference after becoming the first player in UNI and MVC history to record 70+ blocks and 70+ steals in a single season. The senior forward became one of 19 to do so in the NCAA at the time. Her MVC All-Defensive team season saw 10.2 points, 5.7 rebounds, 2.3 blocks, and 2.1 steals per game as she recorded the fourth-best field goal shooting season in program history with a 58.9% (162-for-275) field goal percentage and the third-most single-season blocks in program history (78).
Four Panthers were named to the MVC Preseason Watchlist in October including Goebel, Taryn Wharton, Elise Jaeger, and Bri Robinson. Jaeger became the 12th Panther to be named to the MVC All-Freshman Team after averaging 5.7 points and 5.5 rebounds per game last season including four double-double performances.
UNI finished the home portion of the 2024-25 regular season with a 9-6 record inside the McLeod Center. It is the 12th consecutive season the Panthers have been over .500 inside the McLeod Center.
Following a recent audit of historical Missouri Valley Conference coaching records, former Southern Illinois head coach Cindy Scott's win total while a head coach in the league was discovered to be 311 (not 353 as previously recorded). As a result, Missouri State's Cheryl Burnett, previously listed second with 319 wins, had been the league record-holder for total victories while a head coach in the MVC. With her 320th victory on March 7, 2024, at Indiana State, Tanya Warren officially became the Missouri Valley Conference's all-time winningest women's basketball coach. Warren, the longest-tenured active head coach in Missouri Valley Conference women's basketball, sits alone at the top of the Missouri Valley Conference leaderboard in Valley wins with her record-breaking, 202nd conference victory coming at Murray State. The 18-season veteran on the UNI bench has been the Panthers' wins leader since a 65-64 victory on March 4, 2017, against Missouri State put her past Tony DiCecco, and she claimed her 300th win in 2023 in an 83-60 blowout on February 12 at Valparaiso.
UNI enters the 2025-26 season with an active program-record 546-game three-pointer streak that started December 6, 2008, versus Green Bay (6-of-19) following an 0-of-14 outing from behind the three-point arc December 3, 2008, against Northern Illinois.Â
Ryley Goebel became the first player in UNI and Missouri Valley Conference history to record 70+ blocks and 70+ steals in a single season. The forward is just one of 19 to do it in NCAA history and was named to the All-MVC Defensive Team for her efforts. Goebel moved up to No. 2 on UNI's all-time blocks list during the 2024-25 season with 162 career blocks. She is currently third on UNI's career blocks per game list with 1.8 blocks per outing and is two steals from breaking into the Panther top-10 in career steals.
This season, the Panthers return six total players including four that made starts in the 2024-25 season. Ryley Goebel leads the returners in playing time with Taryn Wharton, Elise Jaeger, Bri Robinson, and Kaylynn Janes seeing 2024-25 minutes. Mya Nicholson returns as a redshirt-freshman after not seeing any action last year. The six athletes combined for 306 career games played and 160 games played over the 2024-25 season, but just 63 career starts with 59 of them coming last season.
The Panthers bring in six newcomers including one NAIA transfer, Virginia Edmondson, one junior college transfer, Jenna Twedt, and four freshmen Abby Tuttle, Anna Greene, Maren Schmotzer, and Lauren Walker. Â
Edmondson comes to UNI from Montreat College where she made 61 starts in three seasons with the Cavaliers. Edmondson averaged 18.5 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 2.3 assists per game. She had a standout 2024-25 season, posting 20.4 points and 5.7 rebounds per contest, including three 30-point games and four double-doubles. A native of Goldsboro, North Carolina, she was named the Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) Defensive Player of the Year and earned spots on both the All-AAC First Team and All-Defensive Team.
Jenna Twedt joins the Panthers from Kirkwood Community College after a standout two-year career. The 5-foot-8 guard started all 72 games for the Eagles, averaging 15.1 points, 3.0 rebounds, and 2.8 assists per game. Twedt was named the Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) Tournament MVP as a freshman and earned Conference Player of the Year honors as a sophomore. A two-time First Team All-American, she made 112 three-pointers shooting 40.3% from beyond the arc last season.
UNI owns active streaks of 17 consecutive seasons at .500 or better in Missouri Valley Conference play and 16 years in a row with at least a top-half finish in the league standings. These are the best active streaks among the 22 total MVC men's and women's basketball programs.Â
UNI women's basketball action can be followed all season long on social media on Facebook (UNI Women's Basketball), X (@UNIwbb), and on Instagram (@uni_wbb). The 2025-26 schedule and roster, along with the latest Panther news and information can be found online at UNIpanthers.com
